One thing we are generally unable to do at siteIQ is evaluate the quality of support delivered through a company’s software products– and track how this on board support maps to a company’s Website.  Naturally, downloading a muli-million dollar software product to our systems (as robust as they may be) in order to test integrated support features simply isn’t  feasible—and could not adequately emulate the experience of a broad range of customers. However, for the business software that we do use, we have the opportunity to pass on some of our best, and worst, experiences.

This brings me to my tale of woe – and why Adobe deserves kudos for a job well done. Recently my trusty laptop lost his mind and wiped out my profile (thanks a bunch, Microsoft). Although we were able to get him up and running again, my digital buddy emerged with a serious case of amnesia. While he was in triage, I renewed a relationship with a old friend from my distant past—my desktop system. However, renewing this friendship was not without its pitfalls. I had to perform the painful task of reloading all of my software.Visions of long, tedious waits on the phone with repeated recounts of my story  stretched out before me like a vast wasteland.

Enter Adobe…

Having started my reload process with some other companies’ software (which shall remain nameless), I was fully expecting to re-live the frustrating experience of hidden serial numbers, missing purchase histories, and dead-end authentication processes with my Adobe products. Imagine my surprise when none (I repeat, none) of these things happened.

Knowing it was a long shot, I decided to start by grabbing my serial number off of the Adobe software that had not been vaporized on my laptop. As my serial number emerged on my screen, I giggled with glee. One major piece of the puzzle down. But, I knew this small victory was far from winning the war. I still had to face the dreaded authentication process.

After entering my Adobe serial number, I was indeed foiled again. It was an upgrade serial number for software that was so old that it was probably still afraid of Y2K. Knowing that I no longer had this software packaging (much less which version it was), I was prepared to face the inevitable blank purchase history page on the Adobe.com Website. Upon logging in, I was amazed—no stunned—to find my I entire purchase history on the Website—complete with all serial numbers. At this point, the clouds parted and blue skies were visible. But the final question was still left unanswered. Would the authentication process allow me to enter my ancient serial number, or would I have to face an hour on hold listening to bad jazz?

I entered the serial number for my existing software and let the authentication progress bar roll. A screen emerged asking for the previous product and serial number. I hit enter and held my breath as I watched another progress bar scroll. Suddenly, a golden menu box displayed, accompanied by angels singing and a message that my numbers had been accepted. I was free to proceed, unfettered, with any tasks my software could handle—and I didn’t have to listen to a single note of bad jazz.

siteIQ View | The moral to this story? There are some bad eggs who steal software, but that isn’t most customers. As important, most customers are willing to jump through the necessary hoops to prove that they have purchased software legally. Nevertheless, sometimes life happens and they don’t have the tools available to give companies  the evidence they need. But if companies are willing to give customers a safety net or two—such as the software’s serial number, or access to their purchase histories—they will jump through the hoops with wonderful grace and everyone will be happy. No mundane calls from  customers that rack up support costs — and no bad phone muzac for customers stuck on hold, In other words, a perfect win/win.

Kudos | Congratulations to Adobe for an excellent on-board product authentication experience. Adobe and Adobe.com gave me all the tools I needed to get my software up and running in no time flat. This is exemplary considering I still have software (which was legally purchased—TYVM!) that can’t be installed, despite my best efforts. But that’s another war for another day. Hopefully, some of those companies  will see themselves in this blog and take a page from Adobe’s integrated online support playbook. If they don’t, I’m likely to buy new software from someone else.

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